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Sun
General Assembly Ehrlich agenda
appears in peril
April 4, 2004 Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. had high hopes for the moderate legislative agenda he unveiled three months ago when the General Assembly session got under way. But heightened partisanship that boiled over in the State House last week is threatening several of Ehrlich's prime initiatives, including a plan to clean the Chesapeake Bay that had been on the verge of becoming his environmental trademark. The Assembly also has tossed aside several other ideas from the governor in recent weeks, including a proposal for medical malpractice reform and tougher sanctions against criminals who intimidate victims and witnesses before trials. Not a single bill in the governor's legislative package has received final approval. While most of Ehrlich's ideas have been debated, modified and decided on their merits, the ultimate fate of several has become ensnared in the overarching issues of legalized slot machines and higher taxes that is consuming the General Assembly for the second consecutive year. Many could rot behind the logjam that shows little sign of breaking before the scheduled end of the session April 12. "You've got the Senate president and the House speaker who don't agree on big issues," said Democratic Del. Kumar P. Barve, the House majority leader from Montgomery County. "So a lot of bills are going to get held up, and you don't know what the motivations are." Republicans worry that Democrats who control the Assembly are purposely trying to embarrass the state's first GOP governor in more than three decades, refusing to approve initiatives that would make him appear successful. "How do you spell obstruct?" asked Del. Carmen Amedori, a Carroll County Republican. "D-E-M-O-C-R-A-T." The governor has refused to concede defeat, asserting that several of his top priorities are advancing. A program that would divert nonviolent drug-addicted criminals into treatment programs rather than jail has passed both chambers, with slight differences awaiting settlement. Legislation to aid the redevelopment of abandoned industrial sites is progressing, he said. "All the action will happen in the last 10 days," Ehrlich said last week. Business as usual To be sure, 90-day legislative sessions are back-loaded affairs. Lawmakers spend most of the early weeks in hearings, and save major decisions until the end. Committee leaders often delay action on bills - especially legislation from the governor - as a bargaining tool. "This is my 22nd session. It's always complicated," said Ehrlich's communications director Paul E. Schurick, who held a similar position for former Gov. William Donald Schaefer. "Things always look like they are going to hell in a handbasket. Always. "The governor is quite comfortable with his legislative package," Schurick said. But with divided government now the standard in Annapolis, squabbles between the legislative and executive branches extend far beyond differences over policy. Ehrlich allies say that if the governor yields to demands of House Democrats to raise sales or income taxes, his re-election chances are hampered seriously. Democrats see little reason to give the governor the slots-at-racetracks plan he wants without a full solution to the state's budget problems. Little progress Negotiations continued yesterday inside the State House, with House Speaker Michael E. Busch huddling with state Budget Secretary James C. "Chip" DiPaula Jr. and Del. Sheila E. Hixson, the chairwoman of the House Ways and Means Committee. After hours of discussion, it appeared little progress was achieved. Hixson offered the possibility of a half-cent sales tax increase that would end in two years, but the governor refuses to consider higher sales or income taxes to supplement his slots initiative, DiPaula said. "Without revenues, you are going to be looking at severe cuts to counties and severe cuts to Medicaid," said Busch, repeating that he wants the governor to provide a plan to address a shortfall of at least $830 million projected for the budget year that begins in July 2005. "I don't know if they sense any urgency, but at the same token, that is a fact that won't go away." Pitfalls remain There is little evidence that the governor's second legislative package will fare better than his first. A year ago, almost all the governor's initiatives died, unable to be revived by a rookie executive operation that had taken office a few weeks earlier. Many hoped a year of seasoning would create greater success, but many of the same pitfalls appear to remain. Last week, the biggest victim of partisan fury was the governor's plan to impose a fee of at least $2.50 a month on homes and businesses connected to sewer systems, a proposal endorsed by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and other environmental groups. The money would pay for sewage plant upgrades to prevent harmful nitrogen from entering Chesapeake waters, fueling plant and algae growth that depletes life-sustaining oxygen. The House of Delegates approved the plan, adding an additional charge for companies that pump out septic tanks, whose customers tend to be in rural, conservative-leaning areas. The Senate changed the septic charge, assessing it on the customers themselves. After the bill passed the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, chairwoman Paula C. Hollinger learned that all but two of 14 Republicans planned to vote against it on the floor because of the septic charge. Angry, she pulled the bill back in her committee, declaring it dead. Hollinger said Ehrlich had made no attempt to work with her to find a solution. "If he doesn't support his bill, I can't go out and do battle for it," the Baltimore County Democrat said. "It's the governor's bill, and the governor, if he wants this bill, has got to get his act together and work it." Political 'manipulation' Senate Minority Leader J. Lowell Stoltzfus, an Eastern Shore Republican, decried Hollinger's insistence for Republican unanimity on the governor's sewage bill. "I think it's a manipulation of party politics, and it's not right," Stoltzfus said. "It's a new requirement we've never used before." But Democrats say they shouldn't take votes in favor of higher taxes and fees that could cost them constituent support if Republicans won't. Democratic House Speaker Busch demanded near-total GOP unanimity for Ehrlich's transportation program that included a large vehicle-registration fee increase. The transportation bill, too, has yet to be approved by the Senate and could also be a victim of the slots vs. taxes stalemate. Lobbyists Several leading Democrats contend that Ehrlich's lack of success to date is less a result of partisan wrangling than the ineffectiveness of the governor and his staff at lobbying. Del. John Adams Hurson, a Montgomery County Democrat and chairman of the House Health and Government Operations Committee, said he sees little reason to pass Ehrlich-backed legislation to elevate the state office that assists people with disabilities to Cabinet-level status. The governor's staff has not toiled on the initiative, Hurson said, nor has it shown a willingness to back a health reform plan the chairman wants. "They make an initial presentation or request, and then they disappear," Hurson said, referring to the governor's legislative staffers. "You don't see them again. The best lobbyists in Annapolis are those that doggedly roam the halls. They don't do that." A bumpy road Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller acknowledged that many of Ehrlich's priorities face a bumpy road, even as Miller attempts to clear a path by holding up negotiations on budget and tax bills until the House of Delegates votes on a slot machine bill. "We're having little itty-bitty problems on all major pieces of legislation," the Prince George's Democrat said. Part of the problem, Miller said, is the heightened level of partisanship. Liberals in the House have infuriated many by passing a $670 million tax package that includes increases in sales and income levies. Some Republicans refuse to vote for any fees or taxes, despite the governor's insistence. "The parties are dominated by extremes," Miller said. "Democrats on the left and Republicans on the right. A lot of the poison from Capitol Hill is soaking into state legislatures, and it is harder to reach compromise." Sun staff writer Michael Dresser contributed to this article. Copyright © 2004, The Baltimore Sun |
